VHP Veteran Leader Ashok Singhal Dies At 89

PTI

GURGAON -- Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Ashok Singhal, who rose to prominence playing a leading role in the Ram Janambhoomi movement in the late eighties, died today at a private hospital here.

Singhal, 89, who was admitted to Medanta Medicity hospital on Saturday last with complaints of acute breathlessness, died at 2.24 PM following cardio-vascular failure and septicaemia, according to VHP International President Pravin Togadia, who is also a doctor.

A bachelor and an RSS pracharak all his life, Singhal, adopted an aggressive style in the "kar sewak" campaign in the build up to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December, 1992.

A metallurgy engineering graduate from Banaras Hindu University, he pitchforked the organisation in the Ayodhya Ram temple movement and sought to internationalise it by recruiting supporters and organising branches worldwide. The overseas supporters contributed immensely to the VHP campaign.

Singh was in the Intensive Care Unit after he was diagnosed with right lower Lobe Pneumonia. He was on ventilator from the evening of November 14.

A team of specialists from several departments including Critical Care, Respiratory, Cardiology, Endocrinology, Neurology and Nephrology had attended on Singh, the hospital said.